Midday Waltz
by Suiri
Summary: Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**An**: Takes place during Shippoudan. I decided to rewrite this story. I wasn't completely happy with the first version.

**Warning**: Bad grammar, since English is not my first language. I will try to catch as many as I can.

**Summary: **Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.

* * *

**Mid-day Waltz **

* * *

Kakashi felt old. Old and tired. He couldn't remember a time when he hadn't felt one or the other or a combination of both, but for some reason he felt it especially keen tonight.

Maybe it was the girl he was with.

She was young. She was attractive. When she bent over to retrieve her clothes, long strawberry blond hair fell around one pale shoulder. She had skin that was at that point in her life where no blemishes or age marks have touched it and light blue eyes looked out from a round, bright face. In the dim motel light, she suddenly reminded him of Sakura (in term of age, not looks, because that would be rather creepy) and he felt the urge to pray that the girl had told him the truth when she said she was over eighteen. He couldn't recall if she ever told him what her exact age was.

Three or four bottles of alcohol at a nondescript bar, maybe a few minutes of light conversation, and they were already checking into the nearest motel room. They had fallen into bed and all common sense had fled him, taking second place to his baser instincts.

He was old and tired, but he was still a man.

Now that everything was over, Kakashi hated this part. The one where he and his partner for that night exchange awkward, sober looks.

She asked him something.

"Hm?"

"I wanted to know if you want to meet again," she said. She had a strand of hair twirled around a finger playfully and Kakashi inwardly winched at the child-like gesture.

"No." Kakashi has had years of practice on being blunt. If he wasn't, he found that girls often misunderstood his intentions. Those years of experiences has also taught Kakashi to prepared himself when her face turned red in anger.

"You're the worst!"

A harsh slap against his cheek and the girl (whose name he couldn't remember) storms away. When she left, the loud bang of the door rattled the entire room, nearly knocking the fake water-colored pictures off the walls. The sheets pooled around Kakashi's waist as he sat up. His hand rubbed his temple.

'Pain again?' Rin mummers. 'You should see a medic nin.'

Her voice was soft and kind, echoing in his head.

'She's right. Your insomnia's getting really out of hand,' Obito agreed.

Kakashi ignored their concern. He had more pressing matters to tend to. Like Anko who was at his windowsill.

"Another one?" Anko asked. His headache doubled in intensity with the slight smirk Anko sent his way.

"Is there a reason why you're bothering me at two in the morning?" he asked wearily.

"The Hokage wants to see you," she grins. She gave him a wink and vanished as Kakashi got up to dress. He slipped some money onto the dresser and he leap out of the room and onto the rooftops.

The building was void of life when he arrived at the office. There was no one around, but still as a precaution, the doors and windows were completely sealed and Kakashi was fully awake now, curiosity piped by all the secrecy.

The Hokage lean back in her chair with a frown.

"Listen, brat. I'm giving you an _unofficial_ mission."

There was a small rustling sound and stepping out from behind the Hokage's chair was a child.

The chubby little thing standing in the middle of the room was cute...in a homicidal, I will kill you and I will enjoy it sort of way. Kakashi's eye took in the crossed arms, big stoic green eyes, messy blond hair, and a petulant mouth. There was something oddly familiar about the child that he couldn't place.

Tsunade pulled up the child's sleeve to reveal an ugly cursed mark.

_'...not sure how long it was going to last...not safe in Suna...several assassination attempts already...'_

In the mist of the briefing, the one thing Kakashi really latched onto was the fact that he now had a ward, one that would be living with him for unforeseen amount of time in the future.

"I'm not sure I'm right for this mission," he finally said. "I don't mix well with children."

"You took care of your genin team," Tsunade pointed out.

Yes. Look how well that turned out. Sasuke's bitter, angry face was still etched in his mind.

"I don't do well with younger children," he tried again. On occasion, he had been known to try and strangle Konohamaru.

"She looks five, but mentally she's eighteen. She's a smart, reasonable girl. You shouldn't have a problem," Tsunade quirked an eyebrow. "In any case, she's bound to be a lot less trouble then Naruto."

She gave him a withering look.

"Would you rather have her under Anko's care?"

Kakashi wouldn't have wished that on anyone.

His shoulders slump in resignation and he nodded his head in surrender. When the little girl bothered to spare him a glance, all Kakashi could really think of to do was to greet her with two fingers raised in a peace sign.

"Yo."

He got a deadpan stare in return.

"No one outside this room is to know anything about this," Tsunade warned. "She's a neighbor's child that you're caring for."

She waved them off.

The next thing Kakashi knew, he was standing outside a closed door with the child by his side.

'Dude, you just got shanghaied into babysitting duty,' Obito told him.

'She's eighteen,' Rin reminded them. Kakashi could hear the frown in her voice. 'Kakashi...'

Kakashi crossed his heart and raised his hand in a solemn promise. He would not lay a hand on the girl. She was much too young physically now for his target zone.

'She's going to be such a looker, though,' Obito said admiringly.

Even as a five-year-old, Temari of the Sand still retained her exotic, almost sharp pretty looks. Her blond hair was too short to tie in her signature four ponytails. It fell in waves around her round, tan face. Her green eyes were still the same though, he noted. Shrewd and calculating. She would grow to be a very attractive nin. He had seen her, when she was older, sometimes walking in the village accompanied by Shikamaru.

Speaking of the boy...

"Nara-"

"Doesn't know," she said curtly. "Let's keep it that way."

Her voice had lost that deep set, boyish tone. It was now a soft, almost high-pitch growl.

She was quiet the rest of the way to his apartment.

"This is home," he said.

Kakashi watched as she studied the living room.

"Do you want anything to eat?" he asked.

He wondered if he had anything beyond the occasional box of crackers and ramen in the cupboards.

"I'm tired," she said.

"Second door on the left." Kakashi pointed to the hall. He followed her small form into the bedroom. Before he could stop her, she slumped into the spare cot by the bed that Naruto often used. She deliberately turned her back to him and pulled the cover over herself.

"Take the bed."

The Hokage would kill him if she found out he allowed the Kazekage's sister to sleep on the floor.

"I'm fine," she waved him off irritably.

She was too proud to accept his help beyond what she needed. It was an admirable trait, but Kakashi would have preferred it if she was more like Sakura or even Naruto. Unfortunately for the both of them, she didn't have Sakura's charm or Naruto's exuberance. She was closer to Sasuke in terms of personality. They were both moody, detached, and had an attitude problem. His gut feeling told him that she was probably going to be difficult, knowing what he did about her background.

He took a seat on the window ledge so that he could watch over her as she slept. When he closed his eyes, Obito's cheerful voice rang out.

'It's a good thing your hair is already gray, huh?'

In his thoughts, Rin berated Obito.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**An**: Takes place during Shippoudan.

**Warning: **bad grammar...sorry...

**Summary: **Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.

* * *

**Mid-day Waltz **

**II**

* * *

The smell of pine sol and the sunlight smacking him in the face was what woke Kakashi. He opened his eye to a brand new apartment, one where the cot was place neatly in the corner, the clothes were picked up off the floor, the door was open and wafting in was the smell of clean linen, breakfast, and fresh air. One glance at his bookshelf and he could see that all his Icha Icha Paradise novels had been organized and placed in order by volume number.

His little house guest had been busy while he was out cold.

When he walked into the kitchen, he leaned against the door frame.

"I need to go to the market," she said without looking at him. She stood on a chair by the stove, staring out the window while she stirred.

Kakashi shrugged. He took a seat and a plate was shoved in front of him filled with buttered toast, sunny-side eggs, and several crispy strips of bacon. It looked good. It smells great. But what are the odds that it was poisoned?

He searched his memory for anything he might have done to her to warrant an attempted murder. He slowly lifted his fork as she turned her back.

He lowered his mask and chewed calmly. He waited several heartbeats. When he didn't keel over, he took that as a good sign and he devoured the rest of breakfast. It had been a while since his last home cooked meal. He involuntary let out a burp as he pulled his mask back up.

His new ward brushed passed him on her way to the door.

"The Hokage gave me a card to help with my living expenses," she said. "Let's go."

Kakashi wasn't given much of a choice.

He was hard press to keep up with her as they strolled into the market. At one point, he had somehow lost her in the crowds. One minute she was by his side and the next she was gone. In the sea of people, it was easy to lose track of a child who only came up to his knees. He had seriously considered summoning Pakkun until he spotted her bright blond hair thirty feet to his left.

She looked physically fine, peering into the barrels of the local fish stall.

In the seconds he took to reach her she had already made her order.

The man behind the counter handed Kakashi the package. "A new student, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Mm? The cousin of my neighbor."

From there it had been rather easy to come up with a story. He placed a fond hand on Temari's head and affectionately preceded to tell the shop owner about Paku (Pakkun should be happy to know that he now had a namesake) and her cousin Jiro, a nin whose mission in Rain took longer than expected, so he wasn't here to complain about Kakashi using his name. Paku was a orphan who recently arrived to stay with the only family she had left. Kakashi was merely a temporary guardian until the single nin returned home.

"That's every generous of you, Kakashi-sensei," the shop owner commented.

Kakashi smiled winningly behind his mask.

"Paku?" she scowled when they walked away.

Kakashi thought that the name suited her rather well.

He whistled innocently.

It was midday when they were finally through with the market. Kakashi's hands were loaded with bags upon bags of groceries, clothes (she point blank told him that she wasn't wearing any of the frilly crap that girls her age wore), and he had the extra burden of carrying a sleeping Temari in the crook of his arm. The trip had exhausted her and he remembered too late that children her age often had naps around that time of day.

He sat the bags down on the kitchen table and carried her to bed.

When she got up from her afternoon nap, bed-head and grumpy expression, Kakashi said nothing. They had reached an unspoken truce by the time they sat down to dinner. They were stuck with one another. They should try to make it as pleasant as possible.

One week passed.

Then two.

Three.

Before he realized it, a month had gone by.

His life hadn't change much in the way he thought it would having a child living with him. Temari of the Sand still remained the same as he remembered. Capable, stubborn, and very much determined to do things on her own. She practically took care of herself and by default she ended up taking care of him as well. She did the laundry. (Kakashi felt slightly guilty, though in his defense, she got to it often before he could). She cleaned. (His apartment has never looked or smelled better). She even cooked. He often found her in the kitchen. Her eighteen-year-old memory had no trouble recalling how to make simple dishes. It wasn't anything gourmet, but it beats having frozen dinner or greasy take out.

His apartment had become a breeding place for other nins who just wanted something homemade to eat.

"You'd make someone a good wife someday, Paku-chan," Gai said boisterously. He and the other jounins had crashed at Kakashi's place for dinner again.

There was a subtle twitch of anger at her temple, but Kakashi was amused to see how she managed to kept her temper in check.

"I hear you're going to start school soon," Kurenai said with a smile.

"Yes." For the sake of their cover story, Kakashi had enrolled her in a genin academy. He could tell by the slight tug of her lips that she wasn't too thrilled.

"Any word from Jiro?" Raido asked between bites.

"Maybe we should send him a message," Genma suggested.

"Already done," Kakashi lied smoothly. "He's going to be in Rain for a little while longer."

"Does that mean Paku will continue to stay with you?" Kurenai asked with furred eyebrows.

Kakashi merely smiled.

"Poor thing," Genma muttered. Everyone tossed Temari a sympathetic look.

Obito snickered and even Rin let out a stiffened chuckle.

"If you need a place to stay, I have a room," Anko grinned. Her smile was very predatory like and he felt, rather than saw, Temari take a step back.

"You just want her for the food," Ibiki rolled his eyes. He reached over and ruffled Temari's hair.

Later that night, they all got roaring drunk.

"I miss that idiot," Genma hiccuped. They were in the 'I'm so drunk I'm starting to reminisce' stage. "Things are so dull around here!"

Everyone agreed.

Nothing was the same without Naruto's crazy antics to keep them entertained.

"Jiraiya's probably got his hand's full," another nin cheered.

They all toasted Naruto.

Their laughter soon gave way to louder hiccups and a sombre mood as they continued to down the saki. They were now in the 'Why does my life suck?' phase and Kakashi's hand was starting to shake slightly.

_'I will always love him.'_

The Third Hokage's sober image and words came through Kakashi's drunken thoughts.

Kakashi hadn't understood what the Third meant until Sasuke deflected. Just like the third's feeling about Orochimaru, no matter what Sasuke had become, Kakashi will always love the boy. He still considered Sasuke as the son he never had.

What went wrong?

He tried to be a decent teacher. He thought he had been doing the right thing by his students, but somewhere down the line he had screwed up. He had let down Sasuke. He had let down Naruto and Sakura. He was suppose to be a freaking genius, right? How the hell did he go so wrong?

Kakashi was grateful when a wobbly Izumo refilled his glass.

What would Sakura say if she saw him now? His third, admittedly his favorite, student was all he had left.

'You've had enough,' Rin said carefully.

Small hands took the glass away from him.

Before he mercifully passed out, he caught sight of Temari's disapproving look as she glared at all the swaying, tipsy jounins.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**An**: Takes place during Shippoudan.

**Warning: **bad grammar...sorry...

**Summary: **Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.

* * *

**Mid-day Waltz **

**III**

* * *

Tylenol and water was shoved down his throat.

Kakashi coughed violently as he sat up. He scrambled for his mask and yanked it back into place. Through his blood-shot eye, he caught sight of an annoyed little figure walking away to the next body. The unconscious jounin received the same rough treatment, sputtering as he woke.

Temari continued to methodically moved around the room. There was no pretense at being gentle. She forced their mouth open and dropped the pill without care, tipping the water pitcher in her hand until they practically drowned.

Good intentions aside, it probably wasn't the best idea considering that they were half-awake, hungover, jounins with twitchy fingers. Anko, the most unpredictable of them all, had instinctively swipe a kunai out as she jerked awake. Only Kakashi's quick reflex kept the kunai from hitting its mark.

Anko moaned in pain as the sunlight filtered in through the open curtains. Kakashi released her wrist and slumped back down with his own silent grimace as the nausea rolled through him. A pot was shoved under his nose and he noticed other pots and pans nearby within reach. Genma was already dry heaving into one of them.

They all simultaneously covered their ears with loud groans when the church bells picked that time to ring cheerfully across the village.

'Serves you right for drinking so much,' Obito said.

Rin tried to hush him for the sake of Kakashi's pounding head.

Kakashi kicked everyone out.

He collapsed on the couch afterwards with an arm thrown over his eye. As time and wisdom had taught him, the best cure for a hangover was still peace and quiet. He fell asleep to the sound of Temari's little footsteps traveling across the room, cleaning.

He finally woke in the middle of the evening. He found her sitting on the couch next to him, legs tucked underneath her body, watching a movie.

"I remember this," he said.

He sat up and watched the opening credits. It was an old animated story about a lonely scarecrow cursed under a spell until a beautiful princess set him free. It had been his mother's favorite film and the inspiration behind his name.

He dug his hand into the bowl of popcorn on the table and ignored her glare. He pulled down his mask. What did it matter? She had already seen his face, one of the few people to do so. She didn't even bat an eye. If anything, she went out of her way to tune him out.

The tension in his back slowly eased.

They were at the part where the scarecrow was walking through the forest, lonely and lost as he searched for a reason to live when the doorbell rung. He replaced his mask as she got up. She ambled to the door and opened it cautiously. When Kakashi looked back, a familiar strawberry blond woman was on his doorstep.

She shouldered her way into the apartment with a plastic smile on her face.

"Kakashi-sensei," she greeted.

'You sure know how to pick them,' Rin grumbled.

Kakashi barely blinked and suddenly she was on his lap, smiling coyly.

"We started on the wrong foot, didn't we?" She touched his clothed cheek. "I'm very sorry I slapped you. I know you must have had a good reason for not wanting to keep in contact."

She smiled at Temari.

"Is that child the reason?" she asked. "She's adorable. I'm sure we'd get along, right sweetheart? I'm great with children." She didn't wait for an answer and turned her attention back to Kakashi. "I would have come sooner, but I had to leave town for a bit on a business trip. Lets pick up where we left off, alright?"

He sweatdrop.

Kakashi got a bad feeling when Temari's expression became soft and sweet looking.

"Who are you, baa-chan?" The question was asked with innocence. Kakashi hid a snort. "And what are you doing with Papa-chan?"

"Baa-chan? Papa?" The woman leaps off his lap in shock. "This is _your_ child?"

"I suppose so," he said rather lazily. He let out a startled 'oomph' when for the second time in less than a minute, he had a heavy body jump onto his lap. This time it was Temari. She wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and tilted her head to one side like a curious puppy. For added effect, she doubled the size of her eyes.

"I just came to visit Papa-chan. Did you come to visit him, too?"

Kakashi had to hand it to her. Her acting skills were top-notched. He could see the confusion on the woman's face.

"I don't understand...she's suppose to be a neighbor's kid that you're looking after. Why is she calling you Papa?"

She had read up on him it seemed. It was no coincidence that they met up that night. She had been waiting for him, one of those celebrity hunters who wanted fame from dating the most famous nin in the village.

Kakashi felt exhausted already.

"Uh oh, I'm sorry, Papa-chan," she whispered loudly in his ear. "You told me to keep it a secret."

The woman snapped out of her stupor.

"Who is the mother?" Her voice had a twinge of anger and jealously.

Temari dug a photo from his jacket (and just when did it get there?) and gave it to the woman. The woman turned a nasty shade of red. She upped and slapped him (again) and left, slamming the door.

The photo fluttered to the ground and Kakashi caught the image of an older Temari leaning against her iron fan with a bored expression.

"You keep a photo of yourself?" he asked.

"It saved you," the little girl said. Because no matter how famous a nin was, not a single, young, woman wanted the burden of caring for a child that wasn't her own.

Temari got up off his lap. He wasn't sure if it had been on purpose, but her little mary-jane shoes that Kurenai had brought, had dug almost viciously into his thighs. She settled back down to the movie.

The next day, Kakashi had decided that in return for saving him from a potentially dangerous situation, he would indulged her by taking her to a toy shop and buying her the biggest stuff animal he could find.

"I'm not a child," she said with gritted teeth. He thought she was going to throw a tantrum the way her face was scrunched up. Then she caught sight of a large stuff weasel. Kakashi took the hint and told the shop keeper to ring it up. He watched as she took it home and carefully constructed an eye-patch and taped a sickle to his tail.

"Thank you," she muttered when she was finished. Kakashi got the feeling that she didn't thank people often.

"You welcome," Kakashi said. He laid a hand on her head and for once, she didn't jerk away.

The first time they had a disagreement came during a morning, after another hangover from a party that celebrated Kurenai's kid turning one. He had been stumbling his way to the bedroom when her voice stopped him.

"Is there a time when you sleep normally?" she asked. "When you're not drunk or drugged?"

They locked eyes. Her glaze was serious and contemplative. Kakashi was once again reminded that this wasn't some five-year-old child he was dealing with. Underneath the innocent looking exterior was an eighteen-year-old nin, who was astute enough to recognized that he had a problem.

"You're kind of pathetic," she said with vague displeasure. "At the rate you're going, you're not going to survive much longer."

She was harshly blunt.

"I'm going to speak with the Hokage today. I refuse to be under the protection of a drunk, wash-up, old jounin with self-destructive tendencies."

Kakashi scratched his head. "If that's what you want."

'She's leaving,' Obito warned.

The door slams with a loud-winch inducing bang.

'What's with woman slamming doors around you?' Obito complained.

Kakashi just stumbled into his bedroom and into bed. An hour later, Tsunade made her appearance standing over him.

"I'm relieving you of this mission," she said.

"Who?" He was curious about what poor nin was about to get the brunt presences of the girl.

"Gai."

Tsunade paused.

"Do you know why you were given this mission?" she asked. "Out of all the jounins in this village, the Kazekage had requested you personally. He said that Naruto spoke highly of you and that he couldn't think of anyone else in Konoha he would feel more secure in leaving his sister with."

Lovely. He now had a guilt trip to go along with his hangover. The Hokage reached down and cuffed him one on the head.

"How's your sleep?"

"Fine."

"Good enough." She let the matter go. "I'm sending her in to get her stuff, then we'll leave you alone."

The Hokage left and he heard the sound of little footsteps. From the corner of his eye, he watched as she gathered her things stiffly. She hesitated over the stuff animal before she decided to leave it where it was, sadly lying on top of the folded cot.

She stopped in the doorway.

"You should think about getting checked out. Hearing voices in your head isn't a good sign," she told him.

He felt them leave.

'Don't worry, buddy. You still have us.'

In the dark, he heard Obito soothing voice trying to comfort him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto. There would be more Temari if I did.

**An**: Sorry. Sorry. I take the rules of rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, seriously and until something is complete, anything I write is endanger of being changed or modify. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does I know it annoys the heck out of people reading. Rest assured that any rewrite will always be for the better.

**Warning: **bad grammar...sorry...

**Summary: **Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.

* * *

**Mid-day Waltz **

**IV**

* * *

Guilt set in. It lodged, really, in the back of his throat with a gritty aftertaste, like phlegm that refused to be coughed up.

She looked small, _is_ small, lying in the middle of the starched white sheets of the hospital bed.

When he first saw her through the operating window, as Medic nins frantically sent in chakra with pulsing blue hands, Kakashi honestly thought that she was dead. She was lying so still. There wasn't an inch of her that wasn't cover by blood. Part of her body had collapsed onto itself and several organs had been destroyed. The spleen, one lung, several ribs...almost every bone in her body is broken and Kakashi felt his breathe catch in a sight panic. Seeing her made him flash back to another time, to a cave, and to another kid whose body looked similar after having been crushed underneath a large boulder.

It was Obito all over again.

The old trauma came rushing back and it caused his legs to buckle and himself to break out into a cold sweat. He would have been on the floor if Kurenai hadn't steered him to an empty seat.

Kakashi placed his head in his hands.

'It's going to be alright,' Rin said. 'Don't blame yourself.'

He heard Kurenai say something similar, but he couldn't hear over the roaring wave in his ears. When he saw a nurse emerge from the room close to fifteen hours later, he had been quick to grab the startled woman and ask for an update.

It wasn't great news. They had managed to repair most of the damage, but for the now useless organs and bones, they had to modify the clone technique and reconstruct new ones. She hasn't woken yet. She had a concussion from where her head was slammed into the ground and until she wakes, it was hard to pin point how much damaged had been done. It could range from just a slight headache for the rest of her life, to amnesia, to brain damage.

It was enough for now that she was breathing on her own.

Gai was still in critical condition.

Kakashi had followed when they transported her to a more private room in the ICU ward. He grabbed a nearby seat and sat by her beside.

The Hokage joined him.

"They were ambushed while they were out jogging," she said. There were no witnesses; just a handful of horrified nins at the medic center when Gai staggered in with the girl in his arms. Gai had managed to say a few words before one of the nurses noticed it. None of the blood that drenched their clothing belong to the child. Had he been a few minute later in getting to the center, Gai's name would have been on the memorial stone before the sun even reached mid-day.

Kakashi heard the sound of heels clicking against the floor as a nurse walks in.

"How is she?" Tsunade asked.

"Stable," the nurse jotted down a few notes. "You can go home, Kakashi-sensei. We can send word to you if anything changes."

"I'll stay," he said.

"You've been here for hours now," she scrutinized him.

"I'll stay."

The nurse shook her head as she and the Hokage exchanged looks. She made a few more notes before closing the clipboard with a snap.

"You should be happy to know, Hokage-sama, that Gai-sensei has made it through the surgery."

Kakashi caught sight of Rock Lee, Ten-Ten, and Neji rushing pass the door. The loud cheer from Rock still echoed in the hall.

"That is good news," the Hokage said. "Hear that, brat?"

Kakashi raked a hand through his hair and nodded. The nurse gave him a reassuring smile before she left.

'That's awesome,' Obito cheered. 'I knew he would make it.'

Kakashi's good mood vanished when Anko appeared.

"We found scorched marks and blood down a trail that Gai often used. Anbu is securing the site and gathering evidence," Anko reported. "So far, no one has left through the village gates."

"They're still here," Tsunade concluded.

Somewhere in Konoha, the attackers were still lurking.

The Hokage lifted a hand and Anko cracked her knuckles in anticipation.

"You're leading the investigation, Anko," Tsunade said. "I want every rock overturn, understood?"

Anko's answer was a satisfied smile and she vanished in a poof of smoke.

Tsunade turned to him. "You want to join in the search, brat?"

Kakashi glanced at the bed.

"No. Never mind. I'm putting you back on babysitting duty," she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let me know if you change your mind."

She left to go check up on Gai and passed Sakura who hesitatingly knocked on the door.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

It had been a while since he last saw her. She had grown taller. Her hair was longer. She looked more mature in her medic training outfit, but her smile still retained that warmth and kindness that reminded him painfully of Rin.

Sakura came in and gave a curious glance at the little figure on the bed.

"She's a neighbor's cousin that I am taking care of," Kakashi answered her unspoken question.

The less people who knew her real identity, the easier it would be to flush out the assassins.

"I'm sorry. I heard a bit about what happened," Sakura said sincerely. There was a little frown on her face that meant she was thinking. Sakura was a bright girl. No doubt she was wondering why someone would want to hurt a little girl and Gai.

"I guess Gai-sensei has a few enemies," she said, coming to a conclusion.

"We all have enemies," he replied with a wan smile.

Sakura nods.

She stayed with him a little while longer, telling him about her day and how her training was going.

"I'm very close to getting my medical license," she beamed.

Kakashi proudly congratulated her.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura leaned down and peered at the part of his face that wasn't covered. "You don't look so well..."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Sakura bit her lips and looked at the clock. "I've got to go back to my rounds. I'll see you later."

She gives a watery smile before she abruptly embraced him.

"Take care, sensei."

Kakashi regretfully watched as she disappeared through the door.

There was a paternal urge to reach out and grab her. To take her far away from everything that could possibly hurt her. It was that same paternal urge that made him want to track Naruto and Sasuke down, to see how they were and maybe knock some sense into Sasuke, that little fool.

He shoves the instinct down, though, concentrating all his efforts on the one kid that currently needed him.

Nurses and doctors come in and out constantly and after a while, after they got over their shock, they had gotten use to Kakashi's presences.

Kakashi grabs a novel from his front pocket.

The head medic and the nurse encouraged him to talk out loud. People in comas are still aware of their surrounds and could hear. Read to her, they said. Children that age often liked to hear stories.

Kakashi shrugged.

He had nothing to lose by following their advice.

In the quietness of the room, the only sound beside her steady heartbeat, was the sound of his voice reading to her the fifth volume of Icha Icha Paradise.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**An**: I hope someone likes this.

**Warning: **bad grammar...sorry...English is not my native language. Did I mention that?

**Summary: **Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.

* * *

**Mid-day Waltz **

**V**

* * *

She woke seven weeks later...

It wasn't anything dramatic. Kakashi never caught sight of her eyes fluttering or her pinky twitching. One moment and suddenly she was sitting up in bed, figure hunched and shadowed in the evening light.

Her head was bowed so that her blond hair hid her face. Kakashi was sure that her eyes were carefully studying everything through the fringes. From the tension in her body, he figured she wasn't all too thrilled to wake up and find herself in the medic ward.

"Gai-sensei..."

Kakashi winched at the sound of her rasp. Almost two month of disuse had render her voice hoarse and scratchy. He'd heard nails on chalkboard that was less grating.

"He's fine. Nothing a few months of bed rest can't fix."

She finally lifted her head and took a good, long look at him.

"You look like shit," she mentioned.

'Isn't that the kettle calling the pot black?' Obito pointed out. 'She looks like a baby panda with those bags under her eyes.'

Rin was quick to defend the girl. 'You _are_ a bit scruffy, Kakashi.'

Kakashi rubbed the stubble underneath his mask.

"Seven weeks of being in one place does that," he shrugged.

Kakashi is tired. Tired and he felt grubby. He hadn't slept soundly or even showered in weeks. He had lived like his namesake, all but rooted by her bedside, eating what the nurses brought and leaving to use the restroom down the hall when necessary. He hadn't seen a mirror in days, but he was well aware that he looked like death warmed over.

"You smell awful," she muttered with a turned up nose.

Yes, Kakashi was aware that he smelled like it too. Before he could utter a word, she fell backwards and slept.

'Well...' Obito had no other words.

'She needs a lot of rest.' Rin mummer. 'Her injuries are still healing.'

For the next few days she drifted in and out of consciousness. She was never awake for more than a few minutes at a time, but the nurses assured him that it was normal.

"We're lucky the poor dear is awake at all," one elderly nurse said as she fluffed the girl's pillow.

Personally, Kakashi wasn't satisfied with that answer until Tsunade had examined her.

Tsunade placed Temari's limp hand back on the bed. "No matter how old she mentally is, her body is still a child and its gone through a bit of trauma. More rest will do her some good."

She asked Kakashi to leave so that she could speak with Temari when the girl stirred. When he was allowed back in, Temari had already fallen back asleep and Tsunade turned to Kakashi with a look he couldn't quite decipher.

"Are you ready to play nursemaid?"

An hour later, Kakashi warily kicked the door to his apartment open with the sleeping child in his arms. He tucked her into bed. He grabbed the stuff weasel and laid it beside her, watching in amusement as her arms automatically sought out the plush. She buried her face into it. Her body wrapped itself around the animal.

When she woke later, Kakashi offered her a spoon full of porridge that Raido had dropped off. He was grateful that she allowed him to feed her without much fuss. She honestly looked too tired to argue anyway.

Their life together went on as it did before. The only exception was that Kakashi was now the one that cooked, cleaned, and did the laundry.

On one of her rare mornings, when she was well enough to be awake for more than twenty minutes, she had gave him a disdained stare.

"What dribble are you reading to me?" she asked.

It had become a habit of his. The two months he spent reading to her was now like second nature to him. Whenever he was sure she was deeply asleep, Kakashi read from whatever he had lying around or books he borrowed from Kurenai. He found that his voice actually soothed her when she had nightmares. She would jolt, half dazed and in fright, only to be comforted by hearing his timber. She would fall back asleep and not remember anything in the morning.

Now it seems that he had been caught.

Kakashi looked up from his novel.

"I got lectured," he said with a hum. "I was told to read more appropriate material." He placed down the tome of fairytales. He could still felt the lumps he got from the nurses when they found out that he had been reading to her from Icha Icha Paradise during her coma.

Following their daily routine, he picked her up and headed for the restroom. He prepared her bath as she sat on the toilet.

She kicked her feet out childishly.

Kakashi didn't delude himself into think that she did it purely for the fun. She was working on building up her muscles that months of bed rest had ruined.

"Why?" she asked in curiosity.

"Hm?" Kakashi looked up. "Why what?"

"Why aren't you angry?" Temari's eyebrow drew together in puzzlement. "I said some harsh things to you."

"The thing about me being a drunk, wash-up old jounin with self-destructive tendencies?" he asked.

She nodded.

"You haven't said anything I haven't heard before."

The Rin in his head had always lectured him on something similar, admittedly in a nicer way. "Why aren't you asking to be transfer to someone else?" he asked back.

Kakashi thought she looked a little bitter.

"There was a mission in the Mist that I was leading. My team and I were tracking down a missing nin in the Gojo mountains." Her lips thinned unhappily. "It took a lot longer than expected so we camped in a valley for the night. The nin I set on first watch turns out to be a habitual drunk. He had wondered off without telling anyone that he was going." Her face twisted into a snarl." While he was gone, we were attacked in our sleep. By the time he managed to find his way back, there was only two of us left. The missing nin we were tracking had killed almost everyone."

'Ouch.' Obito pitied.

"I had to kill the last survivor. She wouldn't have made it passed the first night with her injuries."

"And the missing nin?"

"He got away thanks to that incompetent, drunk fool," her eyes were spiteful. "I should have killed him then. He's probably living in the gutters right now. I had him fired as soon as we got back to Suna."

She looked vicious and vindictive. It reminded him a young Sasuke glaring at anyone who mention his brother.

Kakashi got to his feet when the tub was full. "Done. Can you manage?"

"Yes," she slid off the toilet and with wobbly legs made her way to the tub using the walls and sinks as braces. "I heard from the Hokage that when you weren't with me, you were at the Memorial."

She looks Kakashi in the eye.

"That guy didn't even bothered to go to funeral. He didn't care at all."

"Ah. I see," Kakashi nodded. They stood there for a long moment in companionable silence before he walked out to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Kakashi hummed as he whisked the eggs. He had always thought that he and little Temari had a lot more in common than can be seen. Apparently, they share the same opinion that nins who had no regard for their fellow teammates was the worst sort, sinking lowers than the likes of even the Akatsuki.

'She hates drunk idiots. But she hates drunk idiots who leave their teammates in the rut more,' Obito said.

'You're great man, Kakashi, who care enough about the memories of his friends to visit the memorial every morning, rain or shine.' Rin added.

'Hell, you're hearing our voices in your head. You can't get more devoted than that.' Obito proclaimed.

'She finally sees what we see,' Rin was proud. 'I think she's starting to trust you.'

Temari came out dressed. She looked miserable in the pink jumpsuit that Kakashi had laid out. The bright, cheery little rainbow on the front of her shirt was a mismatched with her stormy expression.

"I hate you," she said venomously as she slowly made her way to the table, one tiny step at a time.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**An**: Just some more bonding moments between Kakashi and Temari.

**Warning: **bad grammar...sorry...

**Summary: **Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.

* * *

**Mid-day Waltz **

**VI**

* * *

The thing about raising little girls is that they attract little boys. Kakashi looked up from his novel and watched with a cocked eyebrow as Temari was instantly surrounded. He honestly thought the playground was a good idea. She needed a bigger place to work out her muscles and he needed some air. He brought her to the park nearby and took refuge in the trees where he had privacy and a good view of her.

The last thing he expected was to find every little male kid there asking her what her name was with tomato red faces.

"Paku," she muttered. Her eyes darted from side to side until she caught sight of him.

'Do something,' her eyes demanded.

Kakashi gave a little wave and stayed in place.

Her expression darkened.

'You'll pay,' her expression said. 'You bastard.'

Kakashi went back to his book.

When the sound of scuffles reached to his ears, it took him a moment to process what he was seeing.

The playground had broken out into an all out brawl. Kids were on top of one another yelling, punching, biting, and there was the occasional burst of ninjitsu. Kakashi was instantly on his feet, searching in the crowd for her.

He was sure she was wearing pink.

'Every little girl there is wearing pink.' Obito groaned.

It was hard to tell the kids apart when they were rolling on the ground.

'There she is! On the seesaw,' Rin exclaimed.

Kakashi teleported to her side with crossed arms. She was one of the few lone kids not involved. She was content just sitting there, watching the chaos.

"What happened?" he asked. The twitch at the corner of her lips made his guard go up. He didn't have to wait long before several angry parents came charging at him.

"Kakashi-sensei! Do you know what your student did?" they cried. They berated him as Temari silently looked on.

Kakashi grabbed Temari and put her under his arm. He hastily apologized and hightailed it out of there. Traveling from rooftop to rooftop, he sighed tiredly.

"You really told those kids that you would marry the strongest guy?" he asked.

"I didn't know they would fight like that," Temari said.

Kakashi didn't believe her, but he let it go.

Living in his modest apartment, from then on, had become a matter of survival. Every time he forced her to wear something pink or frilly, she found some way to retaliate. She cut off the warm water during his showers. She'd superglue his ass to the chair. At one point, she gave his number out as a male escort.

Kakashi is still receiving calls in the middle of the night asking for 'Sexy Scarecrow 69.'

It was almost like having Naruto back.

She was a bit more vindictive instead of attention grabby, though.

After their little talk in the bathroom, he thinks that they had gotten to the point where they understood one another. There's still the disapproving look she shoots him whenever she saw him take a drink of something stronger than coffee, but he drank a lot less when he was distracted. It was a dysfunctional sort of relationship that it worked for them. It kept her from being bored and it kept him on his toes.

This morning he couldn't find a face mask that hadn't been dyed in a neon or pastel color. He had to settle for the one that was the least offensive on the eyes.

Kakashi saw his reflection on the toaster and he came to the conclusion that he couldn't pull off orange like Naruto.

When she walked into the kitchen in the frilly, fluffiest dress that he could find, she didn't said a word as she walked past and went to climb her chair.

Kakashi found salt in his coffee and finely grounded up chili pepper in his cereal.

"If you miss him that much why don't you contact him?" she ask in between bites.

"Can't," he said in between gurgles. "Don't know where they are."

Jiraiya and Naruto could be anywhere.

"That's too bad."

Was that sympathy in her voice? It was hard to tell. Temari had a well practiced poker face.

He pulled out a bag from underneath the table and placed it beside her plate.

"What is it?" she looked warily.

"Swim suit," he said. "We're going to the pool."

"Why?"

"Because Kurenai is going with her kid," Kakashi replied.

She gave him a look.

"You wimp," she muttered. "She bullied you into it, didn't she?"

'She got you pegged,' Obito laughed uproariously.

"Maa...it sounds like fun, right?" he prodded. Behind his back, he crossed his fingers.

"No," She continued to eat without care. "I don't know how."

"Know how to what?"

"Swim."

The door bell rang.

Kurenai didn't take no for an answer. She rounded up Kakashi and Temari and shoved them out the door.

Standing at the edge of community pool, he and Temari exchanged looks.

"I don't like this," she glanced at the crowds lounging and swimming. She skittered behind Kakashi to avoid getting splashed by water.

"I'll help you," he promised. "We'll stay at the shallow end." He held up the bright colored floaters.

"I'd rather face Orochimaru," she said flatly.

'Me too,' But he kept that thought quiet because Kurenai came back to them from the snack stall. She grabbed Temari.

"Go change, Kakashi."

With the grace that only a mother could pull, Kurenai juggled a struggling Temari, her baby, and all the bags of supplies they needed and headed straight for the changing room.

Kakashi was waiting in his swim trunks when they came out.

Temari scowled in her one piece pink suit. She saw something out of the corner of her eyes and suddenly she attached herself to Kakashi's leg.

"Don't let her near me," she hissed.

Anko was suddenly looming over them with a happy smile. "Paku-chan! I heard you can't swim! Want me to teach you?"

"..."

"Aw, you're so cute when you're shy!" Anko grabbed Temari by the arm. "Ah hoy!"

She tossed Temari into the pool with a splash.

Kakashi dove in hurriedly. Underwater, he searched through the swimming bodies until he saw her towards the bottom floor. Her eyes were bugged out rather comically as she flailed her arms. He quickly pulled up her to the surface.

"Anko!" he glared. He helped a coughing, dripping Temari to the concrete.

"It's the quickest way to learn," Anko said rather cheery.

"Why don't you go to Kurenai and towel off," he suggested. Temari didn't waste anytime. She practically ran for cover.

Anko crouched down to his level. "She heals fast," she remarked. They watched as Kurenai fussed and began toweling Temari's hair dry.

"What did you find out?" Kakashi asked.

"Not much, but I have come to the conclusion that it's a professional hit," she said rocking on her heels. "The funny thing is, from the foot tracks and where the attacks were aimed, I'd almost say that little Paku was the intended target. Not Gai."

She gave Kakashi a sly smile.

"And just so you know... Jiro is on his way back from Rain. He should be here soon. He seemed really surprise to know that he has a little cousin waiting."

Kakashi eyed her. "How long have you known?"

"From the moment I smelled her," Anko grinned. A fork tongue slithered out of her mouth, briefly tasting the air. "She tastes like Suna. Her eyes are pretty rare, too. Green eyes in Suna are a dominate trait that comes from only one family."

She got to her feet.

"The attacker will probably move soon, " Anko warned him. "You should keep a closer eye on the little princess. The last thing we want is another war between Konoha and Suna if anything happens to her."

Temari came back as soon as Anko left.

"Let's go," she said. "I've had enough of water for one day."

Kurenai waved goodbye to them from the distance.

"What did you say to her?" he asked with curiosity.

"That you have a bad case of diarrhea and needed to go back home."

Obito's laughter was loud in his head.

Kakashi felt himself being pushed to his feet and ordered about.

"You're slow!" she barked when he finally emerged from the locker room. She grabbed part of his sleeve and pulled him along.

'The odd couple.' Rin said with amusement.

'Dorothy and Toto,' Obito chimed.

'The Lone Nin and Tonto.'

'Starsky and Hutch!'

Rin and Obito merrily laughs all the way home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**An**: Another chapter...short, but I hope it conveyed what was I was trying convey. I hope that makes sense. I'm not sure if anyone is reading this, but if someone is, I hope they enjoy it.

**Warning: **Bad grammar...sorry...English is my second language.

**Summary: **Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.

* * *

**Mid-day Waltz **

**VII**

* * *

"How long are you going to keep me like this?" she frowned. She hung upside down from the ceiling fan.

"Until you tell me where the twelfth volume is," he said. There were just some things people shouldn't mess with. The newest volume of Icha Icha Paradise, which for months he had been waiting in anticipation for, was one of them.

Kakashi checked under the sofa.

"You're cold," she said. "Bitter cold."

He moved to the window and tried to gauge her reaction.

"Still cold."

Kakashi wanted to rip out his hair in frustration. He already ransacked the apartment with no luck. As a last ditched effort he loomed over her menacingly. He gave her the glare that even Naruto was wary of.

"I've lived with Gaara when he was still a Jinchuriki," she told him. "You don't scare me."

She wiggled her ankle as she waited for his next move. The rope held firm and she began to swing like a pendulum. Her chubby cheeks flushed as all the blood began rushing to her head, but still, she stubbornly refused to tell him where his novel was. It was payback for the sparkling tiara he had ninjustu to stick to her head.

'Bribe her,' Obito advise. 'It might be your only chance.'

'I think this is a great opportunity for you to read something else, Kakashi,' Rin said with firm conviction.

'What's he going to read?' Obito argued.

'How about Moby Dick?'

'Dick...hahahah...'

'Real mature, Obito,' Rin grumbled.

"I'll buy that Venus fly trap that you saw in the shop," he said. He probed at her weakness. When she wasn't tormenting him, she was carefully watering and tending to the plants she brought from the local shops. Her hobby had turned his apartment into a botanical garden. Everywhere he turned, he was face to face with green. She told him once that she liked all the different colors. Suna was just sand and cactus. It didn't have the various plant life that a rainforest village like Konoha had.

They were walking by a window shop one afternoon when her eyes automatically spotted it. He had seen how disappointed she was when she saw how much it would cost to buy the strawberry colored flower.

Kakashi was offering it to her. He could see her thinking deeply about it.

"The crown has to come off," she haggled.

Kakashi was a bit sad when the tiara fell to the floor with a clatter.

She pointed to one of the larger plants. "It's behind there."

He wasted no time. He looked behind the pot and sure enough there it was. Once he took off the genjutsu that beautiful orange cover gleamed. It was practically welcoming him.

"Well?" she asked with a huff.

A deal was a deal.

Kakashi released her and she manhandled him all the way to the store.

"Thank you for your purchase!" the clerk called from behind them. Kakashi heard him celebrating his large commission.

'You did the right thing, Kakashi,' Obito assured him. Icha Icha Paradise was worth any price.

She held the pot in her arms with awe as she happily strolled along. He noticed her limp when she started to lag behind.

'Is her leg still hurting?' Rin was concern.

Kakashi scooped her up. He placed her on his shoulder and she grabbed his hair as a makeshift handle to stabilize herself. He winched when she tugged a bit roughly.

'She's not complaining. Her leg must really hurt,' Obito noticed.

Kakashi doesn't say anything when exhaustion takes over her. She starts to nod off. He reached up with one hand to hold her steady. With the other arm he caught the pot on reflex when it slipped from her lax hand.

Her cheek came to rest on his head and she snored the tiniest bit. The women in the market gave him understanding, kind looks.

"Better take the little one home, Kakashi-sensei," one said. She had her own child sleeping in her arms. Kakashi gives her a tiny smile in response.

He feels a bit sleepy himself.

When they got home, he laid her down on the bed. He made a move to pull away, but her hand tightened on his scalp and he hurriedly sat back down at the biting pain. She had one hell of a grip.

Oh well.

He joined her, laying on top of the covers as she was tucked under them.

How long as it been since he slept with a warm body next to him? He had almost forgotten the feeling of warmth sharing a bed could have. In the back of his mind he thinks that she was definitely from Suna. She radiated heat like a furnace even in a body that small. It was like sleeping next to a cozy fire.

Kakashi yawned.

Together, they took a nap as the sun reached mid-day.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**An**: Sorry for the wait. My computer had to be repaired and then I got writer's block and...lets just say a lot of things happened...

**Warning: **bad grammar...sorry...English isn't my first language...

**Summary: **Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.

* * *

**Mid-day Waltz **

**VIII**

* * *

Kakashi still has nightmares.

Usually it revolved around his failure to save Obito or Rin. In others, particularly in the more recent ones, it was Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura. In his dreams, no matter how far or how fast he ran, no matter how much he strained his body, it was never enough. They were dead before he had the chance to rescue them and Orochimaru was always there stained in their blood.

He often woke up in a cold sweat. It would take hours to ward away the cold chill running down his spine and he realized that it was just easier not to sleep. He could deal with the insomnia.

It was a lot easier to deal with than what he was seeing right now.

He stood by and watched as Sasuke cut Sakura down. When she fell she managed to turn her head so that she could see him. Her wide, stun eyes stared at him accusingly.

_'Why didn't you save me?' _

Kakashi wanted to but his feet were rooted to the ground. He had become the proverbial scarecrow, feet staked to the ground and all. He couldn't move even if he wanted too.

_'This is your fault.' _

The sweat dripped from Kakashi's brow with the effort of trying to pull free.

_'Why didn't you save him?' _

Sasuke turned to him now.

_'If you saved him then, none of this would be happening.' _

Sasuke looked stoic as he placed his sword in Kakashi's hand.

_'You know what you have to do.' _

Kakashi placed the sharp tip of the sword to his stomach. He was painfully reminded of how he found his father in that same position. So this is the way he was going to die...like father like son, he suppose.

_'You have to pay for failing all of us.'_

He raise his arms to plunge the sword forward.

He hesitates.

_'DO IT!'_

Kakashi wakes then. He jolted up from the bed. Beside him, Temari thrashes in the throes of her own nightmare. Her little fists fought against some invisible enemy and the little choking noises that came from her throat sounded loud in the silence.

Kakashi shakes Temari gently. He pretends he doesn't see the way she trembles when she wakes.

He glanced at the clock.

'Seven hours,' Rin said. 'That's the longest you've ever slept.'

'A new record,' Obito said. He sounded pleased.

Kakashi turned his attention back to the shuddering figure next to him. He moved automatically on instinct. He had done the same thing for Sakura when Sasuke first deflected and later again when Naruto left with Jiraya. Kakashi reached out his hand and he pulled Temari closer to his side. He wrapped a comforting arm around her and gave her a one armed hug.

Unlike Sakura, Temari didn't cry. He didn't really expect her to. She wasn't the type. She did, however, reach up to touch his hand.

That's when Kakashi realized that he was shaking too.

Who was comforting who now?

It's been years since he allowed himself to cling to another person. The last had been Rin and that had been right after Obito's death. He had clung to Rin with a iron grip, burrowing his sorrow into her shirt. It wasn't exactly the same. Temari was younger and a lot chubbier. (Kakashi didn't want to be clobbered so he kept that thought to himself). But other than that she felt a lot like Rin. It was a strange comparison. Considering their personalities. It took him a long moment to figure out what made them similar.

The both of them had a motherly feel to them.

It was something Kakashi appreciated since his own died when he was too young to remember. For Rin, mothering was instinctual. For Temari, it probably came from the years of raising her brothers. He had read through her files. It wasn't easy becoming the father, mother-figure, and big sister that her younger siblings needed. She had been forced to grow up.

Her curse might actually be a blessing.

She got a second chance at childhood.

His nose picked up on her scent and he realized that Anko had been right. She smelled like a mixture of arid sand and a windy rain storm.

She smelled like Suna.

The sun had already risen. The light came brightly through the blinds and the warmth suffused through the room. Soon she fell asleep again. He was almost jealous at how naturally she was able to rest.

His arm tightened around her a little as he studied her sleeping face. She was almost angel-like. It was hard to believe that when she was awake she had a short fuse and the bad temper of a rabid weasel.

He felt a blossoming pain at his shin.

And she kicked like a mule in sleep.

With the company, the nightmare faded bit by bit.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**An**: It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry. Writer's block can be such a pain.

**Warning: **Bad grammar. English isn't my first language unfortunately.

**Summary: **Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.

* * *

**Mid-day Waltz**

**IX**

* * *

There was something oddly heartwarming about sending a child off for the first time to genin academy. Granted, Temari wasn't really a child and this really wasn't her first time going, but Kakashi still felt a bit of pride as he watched her trudge up to Umino Iruka.

She looked miserable.

'Can you blame her?' Obito asked. 'Once was bad enough, but now she has to go twice. Poor kid.'

Kakashi, like the rest of the parents around, lifted a hand to waved to her. He gestured that he would pick her up after her classes were done. When he turned to leave, he abruptly stopped in his track and did a double take.

Shikamaru Nara looked bored as he helped Umino wrangle the new class.

'This can't be good,' Obito cringed.

Kakashi could see the disbelieving, horrified look on Temari's face.

Their luck at skirting around Shikamaru had ran out. Kakashi had, out of consideration of her feelings, managed to avoid the slouching Chunin whenever they were out in public, but all of the hiding and dodging and effort seem moot now that Shikamaru would be the teaching assistant to her genin class.

"Let's go," Shikamaru placed a hand on Temari's shoulder. He steered her inside. When she looked back, Kakashi could only give a helpless shrug.

'She'll get through just fine,' Rin assured. 'She's gotten out of tougher situations before. Remember, she's a Jounin.'

Still...Kakashi hung around for an hour and watched her through the window. When he was sure that she was fine and that Shikamaru didn't seem to notice anything unusual, he finally took Rin's advice and went home.

It was lonely and quiet when he entered the apartment.

When they walked home later that afternoon Kakashi was careful about how he phrased his words. He could practically see the dark clouds hovering over her head.

"How did it go?" he finally asked.

"Peachy," she said sarcastically. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a crumple piece of paper. "Here."

It was a stick figured drawing of Kakashi.

'That's really cute,' Rin admires. 'Look, she even drew your sharingan.'

'She's got your hair down right,' Obito teased.

Kakashi blinked at the massive grey lightening bolts that sprung from the head of his stick self.

"The teacher wanted to get to know us. We had to draw a picture of our family," she huffed in annoyance.

"Ah..." Kakashi nodded. It wasn't like she could draw Gaara or Kankuro. She had picked the safe option since everyone already knew that she was staying with Kakashi. No one would think twice of it when she drew the most infamous nin in Konoha.

"Can I keep it?" he asked.

"Whatever."

Kakashi tucks the picture into his vest pocket.

Tsunade was waiting at the apartment for them when they arrived. From the look on her face, he could tell that she didn't have good news. The cynical part of Kakashi (the part that Obito occupied) thinks that she never seems to have good news. Kakashi was ordered to ward the apartment before they could talk openly.

"It's taking a lot longer than expected to reverse the curse," Tsunade said. "I can't keep to the time I promised you." She kept her eyes on silent Temari. "Just wait a little longer."

Obito wanted Kakashi to point out that Temari had been waiting for close to a year now.

"Hang in there." With those last parting words, Tsunade left.

"Want to go to the training field?" he asked Temari.

He took her lower head as a yes. He took her into the dead forest. He went as deep as he could get from prying ears and no one but Kakashi was around when she finally let out a frustrated yell. The chakra that poured from her body made her glow slightly and the wind picked up. One old tree came down with a deafening crash. Then another one. She managed destroyed five trees before her strength gave out. She slumped to the ground and pound her fist into the dirt angrily.

"Just a little training," Kakashi said to the anbu that came to investigate the disturbance. The nin, once he realized who Kakashi was, nodded and left.

When they were alone, Kakashi stood motionlessly and allowed her to vent. Her little fist kept slamming with fury. Kakashi suspected that she wasn't just angry about how long it was taking to cure her. There was also Shikamaru and her humiliation at having him see her at her lowest.

She had a lot of pride.

Shikamaru was the last person she wanted to see.

After a few minutes, she grew still. She stayed like that, head bowed and her knuckles bruised and bleeding.

Her eyes were clear when they finally looked up.

Kakashi decided that it was time to go home.

In the living room, he grabbed for the first aid kit so that he could bandaged her hand.

She stayed still for the most part, but he could see the slight shuddering breathe she took as she willed away frustrated tears.

"Cry," he told her.

When he reflected on it, deep down he thinks that if he had forced Sasuke to speak about what he was feeling, then Kakashi might have prevented his former student's defection. Kakashi could have saved him. Sasuke had a lot of deep rooted issues that he purposely kept hidden from his team. All that rage and grief that Sasuke held onto had no outlet and eventually it boiled over. It was a painful thing to admit it to himself, but Kakashi knows that he could have prevented the boy from becoming the unstable mess that he was now if he simply said to Sasuke that it was alright to cry.

'You can't blame yourself,' Rin said.

'Yeah. It's not your fault. People make their own choices,' Obito reminded him. 'Hindsight is twenty-twenty after-all.'

When Kakashi spoke, he spoke the words he wished he had said to Sasuke. It was advice he never got a chance to give even after the numerous times they managed to meet on the battlefield.

There wasn't any shame in weeping. They born into this world crying. Most will probably cry when they leave. Even someone as strong as Zubusa shed a tear in the end.

"Naruto cries all the time," Kakashi mentioned. "He's a regular waterworks, but he's going to become the strongest Hokage Konoha is going to ever know because of it."

Temari looked at him in disbelief.

"That doofus?"

"Future Hokage Doofus," Kakashi said. There was a swell of pride in his voice and he smiles wanly. "He knows there's less baggage after a good cry. He sheds a few tears, then he moves on. People who don't cry are the ones who are stuck in the past and can't grow."

That's what separate someone like Naruto from someone like Sasuke. Naruto was wise enough to realize that tears wasn't a sign of weakness. That's why when Naruto and Sasuke finally have that all important battle, Naruto will be the one left standing.

'That's some fatherly advice, you've got,' Obito said. 'You know what, Kakashi? I think you'd make a good dad. How about having one of your own soon? It's not like you're getting any younger.'

Kakashi tries to imagine it, but he drew a blank. A kid of his own, huh...

'He has to find a nice girl first,' Rin said firmly.

'Hey, when you have your first boy, you'll name him after me, right?' Obito wanted to know.

'Obito Hatake?' Rin snorted.

'It has a nice ring,' Obito defended himself.

"I'm not five," Temari says. Her voice drew Kakashi's attention back again. "I don't cry easily."

Kakashi felt tired.

Why is it that he always seem to get stuck with the hard-headed brats?

When he looks down at a sleeping Temari hours later, he couldn't bring himself to regret taking her in. It was just like how he had never regretted taking his genin team, problems with Sasuke aside. He had, against his better judgement, grown attached even though he knew that their arrangement couldn't last forever. As soon as she was back to normal, she would go back to Suna and her normal life.

Rin spoke in a quiet mummer and Kakashi agrees with her.

He probably saw Temari as that second chance he never got with Sasuke.

When she tossed and turned and kicked off her covers, Kakashi carefully pulls the blanket up and tucks her in.

'Like I said, you'd make a great dad,' Obito commented. 'Food for thought.'

Kakashi withdrew the portrait that Temari had sketched out of his pocket and hummed.

The next morning, the picture had found a special permanent home on his fridge.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**An**: It's been a while. My muse has been on a long vacation, but now that she's back I hope to update much more frequently.

**Warning: **Bad grammar...sorry...

**Summary: **Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.

* * *

**Mid-day Waltz **

**X**

* * *

The decision to cut back on the drinking was something he decided on after Temari had been release from the medic center, during the first night of her being back in the apartment. While she slept, Kakashi had gathered the courage to grab every bottle he could find and lock them inside of a cabinet in the kitchen. He occasionally went and got a glass or two, but it was always out of Temari's sight, though he suspect that she already knew what was really in the cup of coffee that he had once in a while. The decision to completely go sober came after a visit to Gai's room and seeing the jounin's unnaturally still body. Gai hadn't woken up yet. The medic nins were optimistic, but after seeing how somber Rock Lee was sitting by his teacher's bed, Kakashi had gone home and had toss the key to the cabinet into the trash.

He congratulated himself and told himself that it was easy.

Kakashi ignored the pitying mummer from Rin.

He does pretty well, he thinks. On most days the urge to drink is bearable. His hands tremble only slightly. His throat only feels a little bit dry. He hasn't had a single night of decent sleep. The nightmares, not muted by the alcohol, comes back more vicious then normal, but overall he fights the fight well; helped really by a pair of watchful green eyes and the supporting comments by Obito and Rin.

'Just one day at a time,' Obito encouraged. 'One day at a time.'

Then there are those days where it's not so bearable. Days where Kakashi finds himself snappish and on the verge of throwing the nearest thing at hand against the wall. Days where he's pretty sure despite the difference in their ages, he feels rather like he was the child throwing the tantrums and the five-year-old child is the calm, mature one waiting patiently. He feels almost insane during those times. He's exhausted and all he wants is a one swallow. Just one swallow of liquid burning down his throat; not enough to get him drunk, just enough for his mind to loosen up and relax.

All he wants is to forget and to sleep.

On those days where his resolve is the lowest, he starts a walk towards the cabinet where his bottles are waiting. He must have started that journey about a hundred times, but he has never managed to reach it. Something always inadvertently distracts him or detours him away.

"Here," she shoves a rags into his abdomen. "Dust."

Blinking at the cloth in his hands, Kakashi's eye slid to the little figure walking huffily away. After the dusting, the bathroom needed to be clean and the trash needed to be taken out. Then there's the errands to the market that needed to be done and the laundry that needed to be hung to dry.

He lays exhausted on the couch afterwards for a nap.

When Kakashi dreams, his minds flashes to the first moment he had seen her.

...

Kakashi watched from the tree tops as the confrontation took place. His eye watched carefully as an indignant Naruto, a nervous Sakura, and a detached Sasuke faced off against the visiting team from Suna.

It figures.

Of all the genins, of course it would be _his_ team that would cross paths with the most infamous siblings. He heard Naruto's voice demanding an apology and Konohamaru echoing the sentiments. Kakashi barely gave a glance at the taller blonde girl who was sneering or the kid dress in black with the facial war paint. His eye were firmly fixed on the most obvious threat, the boy who hosted one of the jinchuriki. The kid with the blood-red hair (and he was just that, a small kid who was even slighter than Naruto) who was as powerful as he was unpredictable. If he wanted to, he could easily destroy a village with just a blink of an eye. All it would take is some obnoxious brat (Naruto) or some arrogant bonehead(Sasuke) to set the kid off and Konoha could be blown right off the map.

Kakashi wanted to face-palm when he heard Naruto yell obscenities. Again, Konohamaru eagerly echoing. The bickering had finally escalated into a shouting matching and the red-head raised an annoyed hand.

Kakashi's entire body tensed, ready to move as the sand rose.

"Gaara..." a nervous voice spoke. The girl placed her hands together and smiles tightly."This is your big sister asking you to stop. Please?"

And just like that the sand died down.

The situation was under control and no one died.

Kakashi stared as the blond girl managed to subtly steer the jinchuriki away.

'Watch the girl', Sarutobi rubbed a tired, thin hand against his jaw. 'Sometimes it's not the monster who is the most dangerous. Sometimes, it's the person controlling the beast.'

There's a whole dossier on the sand siblings hidden in the Hokage's office that he spent an entire day perusing through.

Kakashi studied her during her battle in the second round of the exam. Asuma had been right in his assessment. She was a natural born strategist, sharp and quick. Even from the distance, Kakashi could see her eyes profiling her opponents with an ease that he had only seen on nins twice her age; her glaze piercing. As soon as she found what she was looking for, Temari exploits it almost cruelly. She doesn't think much of it as she toss Gai's girl, Ten-Ten, towards the girl's own weapons. Even Kakashi had flinched at the move. She might have loss to Shikamaru in the next round, but the potential to become a powerful nin was there.

Kakashi thinks that if she was really, truly ambitious, Temari could have easily became a future Kazekage.

...

'Don't you ever wonder, Kakashi?' Rin asked quietly. Her voice woke him from sleep. 'She spent a year with Orochimaru, under his care, when he was pretending to be her father. Don't you ever wonder what he might have taught her?'

Temari was the favorite child in every report he read. Orochimaru would have played out his role; would have spent a lot of time with her to avoid suspicion. It would have been stupid to think she had been unaffected. No one, who was unfortunate enough to be close to Orochimaru, came out unscathed.

Anko...Kakashi wonders if the reason Anko was so interested in Temari was because they shared Orochimaru in common.

There was a sly, cruel smirk that both Temari and Anko shared whenever they were engaged in battle. Kakashi would have been blind not to notice that Orochimaru's lips twisted the same way.

'It happens years ago,' Obito said. 'There's no point in dwelling in the past.'

Kakashi noticed that Temari was standing in front the window. He saw her eyes squint, looking into the distance. When she turns around she doesn't give him any indication that she has notice the Anbu that was watching over their apartment. She has probably already noticed long ago, from the moment she woke from her coma, that they had been watched from the shadows by Anbu guards. Guards that were cleared by the Hokage herself, because they couldn't rule out the possibility that the one who attacked Temari and Gai were in the special forces.

She rubs at her arm subconsciously where the curse mark was.

"I have some new movies," Kakashi tells her. While she had been in genin class, he had been in the video shop picking up several movies he knew weren't available in Suna that he thought she would like.

This time he's the one providing the distraction.

She fell asleep at his side that night, tucked rather small against his body. The film credits rolled onto the screen and with nothing else really to do, Kakashi's eyes landed on where his bottles are stash.

'Your choice,' Rin tells him. She would support him no matter what he did.

Temari shifts in sleep and she burrows into him. When Kakashi looks down he sees nothing but the top of messy blond hair.

'Just one day at a time,' Obito repeats again.

Kakashi turns his head away.

It's going to be a long night, he thinks.

Kakashi just makes himself more comfortable on the couch and he closed his eyes.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**An**: Please enjoy the next chapter!

**Warning: **bad grammar...sorry...

**Summary: **Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.

* * *

**Mid-day Waltz **

**XI**

* * *

It was parent-teacher night...if there was ever a time he wished for a drink it would be right at that moment as he sat in a chair that is two sizes too small with a dozen pair of eyes (some wary, some with curiosity, some with both) trying not to stare at him.

Kakashi stuck out like a sore thumb.

He was so out of place that it was almost painful.

He waged an internal war with his fight or flight instincts. He pretended not to notice how the other non-nin parents slowly edged away from him. They looked unsure and cautious, as if they could catch bad luck from just breathing in the same air. Not that Kakashi blamed them. With as much success as he had in his career, his failures wasn't something any parent could ignore.

Sasuke was at the very top of that list.

Half of the village was still smarting over that and the other half was up in arms over the incident with Temari and Gai. Even before Temari was released back into his custody, Tsunade had a list of villagers who wanted to take 'Paku' off his hands. They wanted to give her a safer environment to live in before her 'cousin' came back. Kakashi heard that Tsunade even had to squash down the beginning of a protest. Some of the more vocal villagers speaking on Paku's behalf pointed out his dangerous history with children.

Any child within a ten foot radius of Kakashi had a habit of ending up in the medic center.

Kakashi heard that Tsunade had wearily pointed out the dozen of children that had survived an encounter with 'that strawed-hair idiot'. She managed to placated them temporarily, but there were just too many villagers out there that saw Kakashi as that proverbial broken mirror.

Bad luck was a disease that they were wary of catching.

'Aw, come on,' Obito protested when a parent scooted her desk a little further away. 'That was uncalled for!'

Kakashi had a headache.

'Ignore her, Kakashi. Concentrate on why you're here,' Rin said.

His eye skimmed over the paper that was handed to him. He detected a small amount of hidden glee from Iruka as the paper circulated around the classroom. Iruka was practically rocking on his heels. The genin teacher's voice was deceptively calm as he explained the joint parent-child project.

The dismay on the other parents' faces matched the one Kakashi had underneath his mask.

As kind as Iruka looked, the nin had a vicious streak about as large as the Hokage monument. For the parents, this was punishment for the devil spawns Iruka had to watch over daily. For Kakashi, it was probably some sort of righteous payback for the time he publicly shot down Iruka's well-meaning, but unwanted opinion about sending Team Seven to the Chunin exams. Kakashi thinks Iruka could have given Ibiki a run for his money on ways to torture a person.

The only bright side was that he didn't have to suffer alone.

Temari looked about as thrilled as he felt.

Kakashi sat on the living room floor and stared blankly at the bundle of purple and white fabric.

"What are you suppose to be again?" he scratched his head. The bundle of cloth in front of him didn't magically turn into a costume no matter how much he willed it to be.

"A turnip," Temari said with disgust. She touched the edge of the cloth. "Where do we start from?"

Kakashi shrugged.

Sewing wasn't in his skills set. He never learned because he did what every bachelor nin did when they got holes in their clothes. He goes out to the market and buys a new wardrobe. It was just their luck that Temari was so well off in Suna that she got her clothes practically free. Neither of them had to worry about learning how to patch up tears or how to replace a missing button.

Kakashi could see the project go up in smoke already.

Temari's little fingers couldn't hold the heavy pair of scissors straight. She ended up cutting in a lopsided pattern. When she tried to use the more child friendly pair, the blades weren't sharp enough. The edges of the cloth frayed. In frustration, she tried to use a kunai.

She just ended up poking a hole through the fabric.

"Couldn't we buy something and say we made it?" Temari grumbled.

"It has to be hand-made," Kakashi shrugged. The thought did cross his mind briefly before he dismissed it. Iruka would know if they tried to cheat. The nin's ability to pick out who was trying to scam him was terrifyingly accurate. Naruto (and occasionally Kiba and Konohamaru) had the lumps to prove it.

The doorbell rang and Kakashi got to his feet while Temari stared rebelliously at the unmade costume.

Raido, bless him, was a beautiful sight. Kakashi swore right then and there that he would never make fun or call Raido a house-wife again as the nin walked into the apartment.

He takes everything back when Raido told him that he would only give directions.

"You won't learn anything if I did it for you," the nin said. He looked unphased when Kakashi and Temari gave him identical glares. He pulls something shiny and small from his vest pocket. Raido holds it for Kakashi and Temari to look at. "Lesson number one: the thimble."

With Obito's laughter, Rin's attempts at helping, and Raido's calm instructions, Kakashi spends the next two weeks with bleeding, numb fingers (a result from accidentally jabbing himself with the needles numerous times) and an aching back from being hunched over in his chair as he worked. Slowly, the outfit came together bit by bit. Kakashi is actually pretty proud of himself when he holds up the finished jumpsuit.

Of course, he spends the next week keeping Temari from running away.

She was a slippery one when she wants to be.

Pleading, logic, and bribery didn't work on her. In the end, Kakashi had to forced her into the costume when the time came. He ignored the cursing, the threats, and the squirming. He tucked her under one arm and jumps out the window. When they finally reached the academy he dumped her off on Iruka.

"Take your seat, Kakashi-sensei," Iruka nodded. "The play is going to start soon."

Kakashi quickly moves before he could get trampled in the backstage chaos.

He picks a random seat out front and glanced around at the large, seated crowd facing the platform. This was a new experience for him. This kind of event was usually reserved for all the parents, grandparents, and extended family that wanted to 'ohh' and 'aww' at their kids embarrassingly dressed in weird outfits.

It was for nins with family.

It wasn't a place he thought he would ever find himself.

The music started and the curtains began to raise. The moment the play started, his eye darts to find Temari in the mist of the other similarly dressed fruits and vegetables.

'It could have been worst,' Obito remarked. 'I was a carrot in our genin play, remember?'

'I was an onion,' Rin laughs. 'What were you again, Kakashi?'

Kakashi had been a radish.

It was a memory he tried to forget.

"Which one is yours?" the father next to him, a fellow nin that Kakashi vaguely recognized, asked. "Mine's the cucumber."

Kakashi points to an uncomfortable Temari standing near the end of the line up.

They high-fived each other on how well the costumes turned out.

Kakashi felt his mouth twitch as the genin class began to sing and sway their arms. The little boy standing next to Temari nudged her with an elbow. With a scowl Temari began to mouth the words, looking tortured.

During her performance his hand happen to reach into his pocket and draw out a camera.

"We don't have anything this stupid in Suna," Temari mutters at home that night. She venomously kicks the offensive costume across the room. She yanks at the turnip barrettes (a gift from a sly Anko) that held her hair in two short blond pigtails. The way she flung the hair accessories was similar to the way Raido liked to throw his explosive tags.

Kakashi, for his own safety, didn't tell her of the picture he took when it was her turn on stage.

Parent-teacher conferences, the shopping (Temari was already starting to outgrow her clothes), and the school assignments aside, Kakashi thinks he has fatherhood down to an art form.

Then _it_ happened.

The kid gets sick.

She has a fever, a flush face, the sweats, and Kakashi is trying not to panic as he rubs her back. Her little figure leans over the bed to throw up in the pan. When she manages to lift her head back up, she looks gaunt. Her nose is runny. Her throat is sore. She hugs her stuff weasel with a sniffle as she huddles underneath the covers. Her body shivers and Kakashi piles all of the blankets and comforters he could find on top of her until she's just a small lump underneath.

It was probably nothing, like Kurenai suggested. A common cold. Kids get it all the time during the chilly season. The fact that she was from Suna meant that she was more susceptible to the colder weather. It didn't help that kids her age tend to be germ magnets. Half of her genin class was already out with the flu. The afternoon that she came home with running nose and an aching stomach shouldn't have been a surprise, but a part of Kakashi still panicked when she turned from red to green. They barely made it to the bathroom on time and Kakashi grimaced when he got sight of what she had for lunch.

He didn't know how to take care of a sick child.

He barely knew how to take care of a healthy one.

'Remember what Kurenai said,' Rin reminded him. 'Keep her hydrated and keep an eye on her temperature. Any higher, then we can take her to the medic center.'

'Make sure to change the sheets when she sweats,' Obito added. 'You should make her some rice porridge. Maybe add a little honey in it.'

Kakashi carefully wiped her mouth with a clean cloth as she drifted off. He makes sure to keep a glass of water on the nightstand along with some medicine for the next time she woke. He got comfortable, as comfortable as he could get, in the chair next to the bed.

He runs an agitated hand through his hair.

It wasn't like the time he brought her home after she and Gai were attack. Wounds he could treat. He could tourniquet like the best medic nin. Rehabilitation, he had seen and done his fair share. But common sickness where he had no control...

'Calm down, Kakashi. You can do this,' Rin said.

'How hard could it be? She'll be asleep for most of the time,' Obito reassured.

Kakashi wished he had half of their confidence. He leans back in his chair with a slight slump. He feels helpless as he watched her squirm uncomfortably in sleep. How high was too high of a temperature before he has to take her to the medic center? Was she suppose to sweat that much? Sweating off the fever was a good thing, right?

'This is what you call a parent's worry,' Rin commented. She sounded almost amused. 'There's nothing you can do for her beside be there.'

His hand reaches out on its own to laid on her head.

With Icha Icha in his hands (not that he was reading) Kakashi just waits.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**An**: Thank you for everyone who followed this story and everyone who reviewed or put this on their favorites list. You guys are the best!

**Warning: **bad grammar...sorry...

**Summary: **Kakashi's journey into fatherhood...it's a strange one.

* * *

**Mid-day Waltz **

**XI****I**

* * *

Kids are resilient. His team is a prime example. Naruto had survived his childhood with nearly everyone in the village ostracizing him. Sasuke had survived losing almost every member of his family all at once. Sakura, the one student he pegged as the most likely to have a nervous breakdown under pressure, she had survived Sasuke's betrayal with just a few days of molted tears before she gathered herself and moved forward.

The inner strength that children have was almost supernatural.

Kakashi watched as Temari moved around the room. Less than forty-eight hours and she was back on her feet after a one hundred degree fever while Kakashi's pathetic figure was laid out on the bed. The cold he had gotten from her had knocked him down faster than Genma's moonshine saki. His throat ache, his body felt hot, and he was sweating through the layers of his clothes. As soon as she felt healthy enough to leave the bed, Kakashi took her place underneath the covers.

He coughed harshly.

Temari looked up from where she was watering a plant. She left the room and a moment later, a glass of orange juice was shoved into his hand. She used every ounce of her weight (all thirty-pounds) and she pushed Kakashi into sitting up so that he could drink. He drained the glass in practically one swallow.

"Do me a favor," he croaked. He flinched at the sound of his voice. The meat-grinder effect really sounded pitiful. "Go stay with Kurenai."

He doesn't want her to get sick again.

"The baby cries too much," Temari answered back.

"Raido, then."

"He's away on a mission."

Kakashi racked his brain for a place where he could send her. Gai was still in the hospital and Anko was out of the question.

"Genma?" he suggested.

The look she gave him could shrivel the nerve of even the most courageous nin. Kakashi could see how she survived all those years with her jinchuriki brother. She shoots down every other name he could think of. The list of Konoha nins that she could tolerate was painfully small and those nins were either away on missions or on an errand for the Hokage.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked finally.

"I want to stay," she said. Kakashi blamed the warmth he felt at her words on the fever. "All my stuff is here," she continued. "I don't feel like moving."

'She's got no tact at all,' Obito commented.

'You're one to talk,' Rin remarked.

They started to argue and Kakashi got a splitting headache.

He really hated being sick.

'Look on the bright side,' Obito offered. 'You're not alone this time.'

Its been years since anyone had bothered to watch over him. He hasn't been this cared for since Rin died.

'Just concentrate on getting well,' Rin said gently.

Temari took the empty glass of orange juice to wash.

"Are you sure you want to stay?" he asked. The risk of her getting sick again was high. Kakashi cringed inwardly when he heard himself sniffle.

"The only other choice is Anko or Genma," the now six-year-old gave him a withering look. Kakashi understood. He really did. Leaning back into the covers, he closed his eye. He heard her little feet move towards the door. "I'll make some soup."

"You don't have to take care of me," Kakashi cracked one eye open.

"Don't worry. It will be like taking care of a pigeon," Temari deadpan.

'Pigeon!' Rin gasped.

Obito laughed.

"Ah..." he had just been upgraded to pigeon status.

The coughing fit he had was mixed in with his chortle.

"What kind of soup do you want?" She doesn't move to help him as he hacked up his lung, something he was grateful for. He already looked like a loser with the snot running down his nose. (Though he pretty sure she couldn't see it behind the mask.)

"White rice porridge," he croaked.

She gave him a nod and left.

She drugged the porridge with cold medicine (he could tasted a hint of it underneath the soy sauce), but he ate it anyway under her careful watch. Kakashi doesn't remember much after finishing half the bowl. He blacked blissfully out and woke up to the sun streaming into the room.

It's the next morning and his cold is worst. His skin felt clammy and his stomach turned. It doesn't stop him from leaving the bed. He dressed slowly and carefully.

"What are you doing?" Temari was frowning from the doorway. Her little arms crossed themselves over her chest.

"Getting dress," Kakashi hums back. He felt his head throb unmercifully as he reached for his vest.

"You're not in any condition to leave," she told him.

"I feel fine." Actually, he felt like crap, but it didn't stop him from zipping up his vest and moving at a snail-like pace towards the door.

He ignored his shaky knees and the snort from Temari.

He was surprised to find her at his side, helping him. They moved sluggishly out of the front door of the apartment and Temari's expression was of weary resignation. She doesn't say much as they make their way out all the way to the memorial stone.

She dumped him on the grass when they arrived and moved away to give him privacy.

Kakashi made sure to keep her in his sight as she squatted in the distance to study a flower. The other half of his attention was facing forward as he touched a cool hand to the memorial stone. His fingers traced Obito's name, then Rin's, then sensei's. After a long moment, a pause to gather his thoughts, he touched his father's name.

'It's going to be okay,' Rin mummers. 'I'm sure your father knows how proud you are of him.'

His father certainly didn't know it when he was alive, Kakashi thinks. He had been an impenitent brat who had spent the last few months of his father's life avoiding him like the plague; agreeing with the other villagers that his father was in the wrong. He had been angry and embarrassed at the time. The ridicule and the whispers that followed him around the town had chipped away at his pride until he felt nothing, but the humiliation. Every hand his father held out to him was brushed briskly away in embarrassment.

His father had died knowing that his only son was ashamed of him.

'You were an idiot back then,' Rin said. Her tone was full of affection that Kakashi didn't deserve. It had taken losing Obito before he realized that his father had been right all along. No mission was worth sacrificing comrades and friends. It was a hard-learned lesson that came too late to save Obito.

Kakashi still feels that ache of regret.

Kakashi spends two hours in front of the memorial stone. When he got to his feet, Temari was there to help him steady his faltering balance.

She took him back home.

"You're an idiot," she told him. She echoed Rin's earlier words. His cold had gotten worst since that morning and now he was feverish. Temari tucked him into bed with a huff.

'It's nice, isn't it?' Rin asked. 'Having someone take care of you when you're sick.'

A part of Kakashi agreed. It was nice having that small cool hand lying on his forehead, gauging his temperature, proving that he wasn't alone in the apartment.

'What's going to happen when she's gone, Kakashi?' Obito's voice was grim. 'She can't stay like that forever.'

Kakashi doesn't expect that. Eventually, Tsunade will find a way to reverse the seal. Temari will leave and he'll have to let go of another student.

'You'll have to go back to the way things were.' Obito continued. 'Can you really do that?'

Does he have much of a choice?

His father, Obito, Rin, his team...eventually everyone leaves him. Kakashi should be use to it by now. Reaching out, he grab Temari's hand. Her wrist is so small in his grasp.

"Just...for a little while," Kakashi fumbled with his words. He feels like a teenager again, awkward and tongue-tied. He just want to hold her hand for a little longer while he has the chance. It's been about thirty years since Rin died and three years since his genin team had broken up. When Temari is gone, Kakashi was going to miss the feeling of having a constant warm presence in his life.

The six-year-old gave him a strange look that he couldn't decipher.

Kakashi doesn't know where Temari got the reputation for being an ice queen. She was full of reluctant kindness underneath her poker face. She doesn't have to, but she lets him hold her hand.

She sat by his bed as he drifted into sleep.


End file.
